Stone SouP

Where I Throw Everything Into a Pot...and Simmer

After more than a year back in the US*, I finally have a doctor. I tried to schedule an appointment with her, but of course she was out of town. So I ended up seeing her associate instead. In his small talk, he asked what I do. I hesitated, unsure what to say, so he […](image)

I was parked today in front of the local Catholic church, collecting from a Pokéstop, when my cell phone rang. Because I was already parked anyway, I answered. It was a computer voice, asking for my sister-in-law. I was dumbfounded. The computer gave me the option of talking to a live person if I was […](image)

It’s been a long time — and a hard slog — since I last wrote a general update about our home situation. The short version is: we have moved from Canada back to Washington State, to the Olympic peninsula, to be specific. But you know me … I never tell the short version! We were told in […](image)

I dreamt last night that I was making Grandma Helen’s Chocolate Nut Balls. These flourless cookies are a bit of a job because you have work the dough like clay, to soften it, before you can roll them into balls and coat them with sugar. They are, however, absolutely worth the effort. How much work you […](image)

Right before we moved to Canada five years ago, a friend who had lived here told me about Fisherman’s Friend. Fisherman’s Friend calls itself an “extra strong” throat lozenge for coughs and colds, and it works like magic. But “extra strong” it is. And it tastes nasty! Until this month, I thought it was the nastiest thing […](image)

Yesterday was the first in what I expect will be a long string of painful goodbyes. Girly Girl had her last regular checkup with her amazing pediatrician and staff at the Edmonton Down Syndrome Clinic. They were shocked that we cannot get permanent residency. “Not because of Down syndrome,” Nurse Coordinator Gayle Krupa said. “You can’t […](image)

Girly Girl was late leaving the house today — seven minutes late — so I opened my Friend Finder app to make sure she caught her bus. Sure enough, there she was, right at our front door, headed out. But twelve minutes later, she was still there. Of course, the most logical explanation was that, for […](image)

Remember this? I was sitting in church and looked down to see a stone missing from my antique engagement/wedding ring. It felt like catching the glimpse of a bloody hole left by a missing tooth. I had a similar experience last night. I was in a restaurant when I absently reached up to fiddle with my earring […](image)

I dreamt last night of a forest fire. It was one of those that flashes from treetop to treetop, and moving quickly. And it was headed directly for my house. I ran home — only a couple of blocks — to grab my family and leave. My extended family was visiting, and I tried to […](image)

No, seriously, guys. This really is just for women. You do not want to read this one. Trust me. No, really. Just move along. Nothing to see here. *sigh* Look, fellows, this one really is TMI, and that’s saying something, coming as it is from the self-proclaimed Queen of TMI. Fine. How about this compromise … you go […](image)